3 she dogs and a puppy 6: Till death do us part
by Fleppy85
Summary: A bride gets killed in the night before her wedding. Was it her future husband or did somebody not want them to get married?


A long, beautiful white dress, expensive jewelry, a dozen of red roses and greeting cards everywhere. Only a few more hours and a church would be filled up with people from all over the city, probably the state. The wedding of Maria Fortunate and Carlos Miguel was planed and organized for months. The only thing, that was missing, was the "I do" of these two people – and some pulse on Maria.

When Sara entered the hotel room, she saw all these things. The dress on a hook, the jewelry on the nightstand, the roses on the table, the cards all over the room. And she saw the big red spot in the middle of the bride's forehead. Wide open eyes, looked dull in disbelieve at her, mouth open, like she wanted to scream.

"The happiest day in your life." Sofia said sadly. She stood next to the bed, watched David, who was taking the body temperature.

"It was my happiest day in my life – but Misses Phillips and me survived our wedding."

"So much for 'til death do us apart', I guess, death came early." Sara took some photos. "There was no time for the promise."

"He'll be a widower before he's a husband."

"Legally, he isn't a widower. Or can you be a widower when you're only engaged?" Both women looked at David.

"Why do you look at me?"

"Because you're the married one in this room, Dave." Sara explained.

"Thanks God, Misses Phillips is alive. Maybe you need to ask a widower."

"Or a lawyer."

"Don't use swear words in front of bodies, Miss Sidle." Sofia rebuked Sara. "That's not very respectful."

"Sorry. Since when is she dead, David?"

"Approximately four to five hours."

"It's seven, she died in the middle of the night. Who found her?"

"Her mother. She wanted to help her get dressed and found her like this. I talked to her, she's in the room next door."

"She stayed there the whole night?"

"No, we got this room from the casino."

"They offered us a room?"

"Yes."

Sara was surprised. She wasn't used to so much help. Usually all she got from the casinos was pressure to finish her work fast, so that they could use the room again and the less police was around, the less time the CSI spend in a room, the faster people forgot what had happened.

"It belonged to Sam Braun."

"And?" Did they get any bonus in his casinos?

"Looks like he ordered in his last will some cooperation in his casinos, in case there was an incident. Besides, when we're in the room next door, people don't realize that fast, what has happened here." Sofia opened the nightstand with her pen.

"Gloves, please."

"Got none."

"In my kid, help yourself, detective." Sara smirked. Sofia always had to look around, had to look for clues, for evidence.

The investigator took some more photos of the body, some close ups of the wound.

"I can't see any GSR, she must have been shot of a distance."

"Small entry wound, not a lot of blood. We can turn her if you want to see, if there's an exit wound."

"Please." Sara and David turned the body. No blood on the pillow, no exit wound.

"Is the mother a suspect?" Sara asked.

"First witness, first suspect."

"Thanks, I know that rule. You talked to her, Sofia, what do you think?"

"She's in the room, she's crying her eyes out and if she is playing the part of the grieving mother, she should get the Oscar next year. Want me to get her over?"

"I don't think her dead daughter is, what she wants to see. Especially when David will transport her now to the morgue. Her look and the sound of the zip, when your child vanished in the bag, isn't something a mother wants to see. But you could send Greg to her, checking for GSR, getting her statement."

"I'd do that if you tell me, where Greg is."

"He is…" Sara got up and looked at her watch. "In the elevator."

"And you know that how?"

"He left the lab ten minutes after me, he should be here now."

"So I'll catch him outside, tell him to go to Misses Fortunate and do, what a good CSI does. Then I'll get the room service, ask if they've seen something, meet the manage, get the surveillance videos, the printout of every entry of the room, since the victim booked it."

At least half of all these things belonged to Sara's job, wasn't Sofia's business. Both knew that.

"Go ahead, I'll work the room."

* * *

"The victim's mother is negative for GSR." Greg came in the room. Sara had bagged the sheets, lifted prints from all over the room and checked the luggage of the deceased.

"What did she tell you about her daughter? Why was she in a hotel?"

"Because she and her husband – or planed husband - used to live in the same apartment and apparently it's bad luck when you spend the night before your own wedding together. So she went here, had a beauty day yesterday and was supposed to get prepared with her mother now, to look wonderful at twelve in the church."

"What about the husband?"

"Sofia is on her way to him."

"That's tough, to open your door on your wedding day and find the police in front, telling you, your wife is dead."

"Any clues of the killer?"

"No signs of forced entry, no signs of struggle, no defensive wounds on her hands. It's like she opened the door, the killer came inside, she walked back to her bed, turned and he or she shot her. The question is, who do you let in the room?"

"Room service."

"Wasn't ordered." Sara had asked at reception and got told, Miss Fortunate didn't order anything of the room service. She made some phone calls last night, to her fiancé, to her mother and two other numbers, Sara hadn't figured out yet.

"She talked to her husband around nine for half an hour. He was at home, she called their number of the apartment. After that, she talked to her mother for another half an hour…"

"That's what the mother also said. From half nine to ten, little after ten."

"Two more calls, both around fifteen minutes after that one. Possible friends? Maid of honor? Checking on last details? No more activities after them, no room service, nothing. It looks like she went to bed. So, who do you open the door around two in the morning? She wasn't dressed, she was in her nightdress. If I stay in a hotel and somebody bangs on my door at two in the morning, I get a robe. I don't open the door like this."

"Only if I know the one who's in front of the door."

"You can only know, that it's somebody you know, when this person told you, he'd be over around that time."

"Or she had a look through the peephole, saw somebody she knew, opened the door, put the robe aside and walked back…"

"To the bed? Beside the husband – who she isn't allowed to see because of this bad luck stuff, that is absolutely nonsense if you ask me – nobody should make her walk back to bed."

"No room service at this time – not if you don't order it – so it can't be that she got something, like the roses, took them and walked back to bed."

"She let, whoever was in front of her door, inside. She undressed herself again. There are no signs that she was dragged to bed. It has to be somebody she knew, somebody she trusted. Somebody she wanted to see in the night before her wedding."

"Who would like to see the night before you get married?"

"Isn't that more a question for you, Greg?" Sara smiled a bit.

"For me?"

"Yes, you're the one with a relationship. Three months, this is something serious."

"It is, but it's far away from a wedding. Have you ever been close to get married?"

"No."

"No relationship was serious enough?"

"No. But even when I stay in a hotel without a wedding on the next day, I don't open my door to anybody at two in the morning. Only to a family member or a friend."

"And who could you make to drop your robe?"

"My husband."

"I think, we should ask Sofia to bring him in."

"I'm sure she asked him to come downtown already."

"Of course she did, she's a smart woman. Wanna go there and talk to the husband while I finish here?" He smiled.

"Okay. Why don't you want to go there?"

"To be honest, I've no idea what to say to a man, who lost his fiancé the night before the wedding. Especially when we made him to a suspect."

"So you leave that to me? Thanks Greg. You owe me for that."

"Breakfast?"

"Dinner. It's already past breakfast time." And Sara didn't believe, she'd be back home any time soon.

She wasn't out of the room when she bumped into Jules. The psychologist was back in Vegas since two weeks and worked since last week as a profiler for the LVPD.

"Slow down, investigator." Jules smiled and left her hand a few moments longer than necessary on Sara's arm.

"Our profiler, what are you doing here?"

"They sent me to your scene. I'm suppose to figure out who and why somebody killed a bride to be. Were you about to leave?"

"Yes. Sofia is with the fiancé, I want to talk to him too. There are some questions and so far, Greg and me have him as a suspect."

"Mind to wait a few minutes and let me join you? Sounds like I'd love to listen to that conversation."

"No problem. I'll call Sofia and tell her, we'll be downtown in half an hour? Or you need some more time?"

"Rush hour, make it an hour." Jules smiled. Sara liked to forget the times of rush hour and the psychologist had spent some time in the long and annoying traffic jams on her way to the scene.

"I call the detective and you fill the doc in." Greg said. "You worked the room, you were here first."

"Good thinking." Jules smiled and blinked at Greg.

"Thanks." He took his cell and left the room.

"Can I see some crime scene photos?"

"They're on the card…" Sara stopped when she saw how Jules got a laptop out of her pocket. "Wow, you've a card reader too?"

"Sure." Jules smirked. "Jealous?"

"I don't need fancy tools, I'm good with my skills."

"I know you, but even your great skills can't show me the crime scene as good as a photo can." Jules insert the memory card and started to look at the photos.

"What do you see?" Sara asked.

"Tell me first what you did see when you came in. How did the room feel to you? What did it tell you?"

"The vic planed her wedding, it was the last night before the big night. She talked to her fiancé, to her mom and two friends. Probably around eleven she went to bed, time of death was around two or three in the morning. There are no signs of forced entry, as I know Greg, he'll be downstairs, getting a list of when the room key card was used to come in. My guess is, there won't be an entry for TOD. She opened the door herself and she knew the one, who woke her up. She knew him – or her – very good. The robe is on the chair, she was found dead on the bed, wearing only her nightdress. You don't walk around the room when there's somebody with you, who isn't very close to you. And you don't open the door at that time of the night to a stranger.

There are no signs of struggle, no defensive wounds on her hands. She was shot from a distance, no GSR, small caliber. I lifted a few prints, can be the room service, can be whoever stayed here before, can be the killer. Jewelry was on the nightstand, wallet with money and cards on the table, it wasn't about money. No visible sexual assault. Sofia talked to the people in the rooms next door, nobody heard a gun shot. There's no surveillance in front of the room, so we can't see, who came along. But there is surveillance in the elevator. We'll check who left between one and four the elevator here. The problem is, the staircase is open, you take the elevator to another level and walk up or down. Or the killer stayed on the same floor, walked to her door and shot her."

"Thanks for the facts, but what did you feel, Sara? How did the room feel when you came in? Could you feel violence? Hate?" Jules stepped closer to Sara. They were alone, the door was closed.

"Jules, I'm here to work the evidence…"

"Sara." Jules stroke her hand softly over Sara's arm. "I know, you're the scientist and I'm the psychologist, but you know, evidence isn't always visible. What did you think, when you saw the woman?"

"I didn't have the impression she saw, what was going to happen to her." Sara chose her words carefully. She hated it when Jules wanted her to do this. Her job was about evidence, about things, she could see and examine and not about feelings and thoughts.

"She let somebody in her room, somebody she knew, she trusted, and this person killed her. Came in, let her walk a few steps, towards the bed, calls her name, she turned and get shot. Whoever did this was cold, was somebody, she called a friend, and knew, she was here and alone. Maybe they even had an appointment.

Who would you want to see the night before your wedding?" Sara turned tables and asked Jules a question.

"Beside my bride? I don't believe in this nonsense, that you shouldn't see your lover the night before the wedding. I'd like to see you."

"Me?"

"Sure, a wedding is suppose to be a party, a time, you spend with the people you love."

"Do you think, she could have invited somebody? A friend? The maids of honor?" Sara didn't want to think of Jules getting married. That was too…abstract.

"You've got the prints, you'll find out. I agree with you, she opened the door to somebody she knew. Could be a friend, the husband, family member or lover."

"Lover? Like, a lover, who won't be the husband the next day?"

"We both know, there are many people, who marry somebody and are not faithful. You can have an open relationship, you can also have an open marriage."

"A marriage isn't suppose to be open."

Jules smiled. Sara was cute when she was old-fashioned.

"Okay, you're right. Means, we need to have a look for some evidence, if there was another man around."

"Or woman?" Jules offered coy.

"You never know. We have her stuff in the lab, I'll check it later. Do you need some more time in the room?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to have a minute alone in here and then we can head back to the lab."

"Enjoy your conversation with the carpet." Sara took her kit.

"Don't be sarcastic, Sara."

* * *

"How comes that you have a huge kitchen, a fully stocked fridge, a wonderful balcony and a very expensive coffee machine only a few yards away, but you still sit on my balcony, drink my coffee and eat my muffin?" Sara looked at Sofia, who sat on Sara's balcony, a coffee and a muffin on her lap.

"Take an educated guess."

"The grass tastes always better on the other side."

"That and the fact, that I've a very much in love couple in my apartment and I – as a very nice roomer – want to give them some time alone. Your guest room is empty since Jules moved her stuff in her new place, I figured, I could stay with you. That way, you won't feel lonely."

"Really nice of you."

"I know. There's a coffee for you." Sofia pointed to the thermo bottle. "And a muffin in the box. By the way, it's coffee from my machine and the muffin is fresh from the bakery down the road. I'm a good guest."

"You are." Sara sat next to Sofia. It was nice to come home and somebody was there. And scary to think of it like that. That didn't sound like she was herself. It sounded like an awful kitschy love story.

"Been here long?"

"No, around five minutes."

They finished talking to the fiancé of the dead woman and after that, Sara was back in the lap, finishing her report and prepared for after work. It was noon, she needed some sleep.

"What did the doc say? Did you talk to her?"

"No." Jules had been behind the mirror, watching them talking to Carlos Miguel. Both had the feeling, this man was really grieving, but people were sometimes very good actors and they wanted to know, what Jules had seen from the behave of the man.

"We'll get her report."

"Sofia?"

"Yes?" The blonde put her coffee away. Something in Sara's voice made it clear, the brunette had finished the topic work and had something private on her mind.

"Can we go to bed?"

Ordinary a comment like this was the perfect chance for Sofia for a sarcastic comment, but she felt, it wasn't the time for comments or teasing.

"Sure." She got up and offered Sara her hand. The brunette took it and hugged Sofia. Kitschy or not, it was really nice to have Sofia here when she came back from work. She was glad, the detective didn't go to her own room.

"Are you alright, Sara?"

"Yeah…just…I don't know. I feel a little bit unsteady at the moment. I think, I could need a friend." She had no idea what had happened to her, she was surprised by this feeling.

"Do you need a friend, who holds you while you sleep?"

"If that's possible."

Sofia smiled a bit. "The last time I checked, my arms were available. And even if somebody wanted them, you're always first. Got the CSI bonus. I need to make sure, you're alright. That's my job and I always do a good job."

"You're smug."

"Yeah, I know. It makes you smile a bit. I saw a hint of a smile, just there." Sofia moved the right side of Sara's mouth a little bit up.

"Nutcase." Sara had to smile a little bit more. She had no idea what was wrong with her, but she needed Sofia around, didn't want to be alone now.

* * *

Sofia woke up with Sara in her arms and smiled. She was awake before Sara had left the bed, that meant, she was awake before the brunette was awake. Finally. She could hear Sara breathing evenly. Whatever had gotten into her friend this noon, when she needed somebody to hold her, it was gone and it was never strong enough, to leave some nightmares behind. Sofia had waited until Sara was asleep for a while before she settled down and caught some sleep herself.

A look at the time told her, they had to get up soon. The case wasn't finish, they had some more interviews to do today. But she had five more minutes. Carefully she pulled Sara in her arms. So nice to wake up with somebody. So nice to wake up and not worrying if the other was still there, she knew, Sara was there or not far away to prepare some breakfast.

"What are you thinking?"

Sofia hadn't realized that the brunette woke up. Sara hadn't turned, she was still in Sofia's arms, facing the window.

"That I'm very happy and that we have the perfect relationship."

"Do we?"

"Yes. Waking up next to you is perfect."

"A perfect relationship contains sex, as far as I remember, we never had sex."

"Our relationship is still young, I'm waiting for the day, one of you guys show me the part of our friendship contract, that says, I've to sleep with you." Sofia chuckled.

"Yeah, this part. I might write it."

"You?"

"Greg has Janet, Jules has Nina, they all don't want me in their bed anymore."

"Do you feel unloved?"

"No. I feel released and happy for them."

"What stops you from finding somebody for your bed?"

"I've got somebody for my bed, a stunning blonde is in it." Sara turned and grinned.

"True. But she didn't sleep with you."

"I didn't try to make her sleep with me."

"Are you telling me that when you want, you can make me have sex with you?"

"Yes."

"Never."

"Yes. And, that's the special thing, you wouldn't regret it. Because you know, I'd never sleep with you to use you, to prove something or be gone when you wake up in the morning. You know, you can trust me and that's my advantage."

"To use this advantage is like using me, using my weakness."

"Only with a bad intention."

"Everything, that doesn't end in a real relationship, is a bad intention."

"You want the whole fairytale, don't you?"

"Yes, I want my knight on a white horse, fighting for me and being mine."

"I can cross off the fighting point from this list, I did that for you. Got you out of the warehouse without a scratch. So I need to get a horse, a white horse, and I'm done. I could draw one."

"On a white horse, not a picture of a white horse."

"I'll think about if you're worth the trouble." Sara kicked the blanket away. "Time to get up, my princess. We're living in a modern fairytale, even the princess has to catch some bad guys. You can play with your golden marbles later."

"And you get a golden star if you do a good job today. You like them, don't you? How many golden stars did you have?"

"I'll kill Greg for that."

"No you won't." Sofia followed her in the kitchen. "You'll tell Janet something sweet about him to have your revenge."

"Sounds good to me too." Sara put the coffee container in Sofia's hands. "Start the coffee, make something to eat, I'll be with you in a minute. Dressed."

"Pity, I like the shorts, nice legs."

"You spent definitely too much time with Jules, Sofia." Sara rolled her eyes and left the kitchen. What was wrong with them today? Why were they flirting? These kind of conversation she had usually with Greg or Jules, not with Sofia.

* * *

"I checked the prints of the husband, his prints weren't in the room." Greg joined Sara in the lab.

"If he was clever enough to take the gun away, he was also clever enough to wear gloves. I printed the door for knuckle prints, there are a few."

"Room service."

"For sure."

"But if the killer wore gloves, he wore them also when he knocked."

"I think so too. You don't see the hands of the one in front of your door, you look for the face, open the door and that's it. All he needed. On the other hand, when you see the man, you want to marry the next day, you don't open the door, turn and go back in your room, you want to give him a proper welcome. And when you share a passionate kiss and your husband doesn't touch you, that's strange."

"If he kisses you with gloves it's also strange; except you're into some games."

"Like what?" Sara furrowed her brows skeptical.

"I don't know…CSI maybe? We wear gloves most times."

"I don't consider our job as very sexy."

"Not? I consider you as very sexy."

"Me or my gloves?"

"You."

"So it's not about the gloves. When you fantasized about me, you didn't think of me wearing gloves, you thought of something else."

"What makes you think that I fantasized about you?" Greg smiled.

"You had a crush on me, Greg. No need to deny it. I don't want to know, what you were thinking, but I know, you had fantasies about me." Sara grinned. No need for Greg to deny this fact, she knew it and he knew, she knew it. It had never bothered her, she had told her friend, his fantasy would never come true, but who was she to tell him, not to fantasize about her? The mind is free.

"You wore some things, never gloves. I wanted to feel your hands." He blinked at her. "So, who do you let in your room, don't get physical with and don't mind, to go back to bed?"

"Mother. Best friend."

"Sofia had the two maids of honor in interview room three, I took their prints." He handed her a set with prints.

"I'll run them." Sara scanned the prints. "Are they still in?"

"No, I was with them, left when they also left. Both are married, both spent the nights with their husbands. Sofia will check with them, but I think, they'll verify it."

"I take a guess, the mother is married too and spent the night with her husband?"

"Yes."

The computer made a quiet beep and Sara's attention went back to the screen. "No match."

"What did doc Robins say?"

"She was shot with a nine millimeter, the bullet is in ballistic. She had sex within the last twelve hours, no signs of force, her dinner was a mixed salad with chicken and a glass of white wine."

"Do we know where she had dinner?"

"No, I didn't find a receipt."

"In that case, I'll ask at the casino. Maybe she wasn't alone. I mean, we assume at the moment, she let her killer in around two. Maybe the killer was with her the whole time."

"I'll call Archie to let him have a look at the tapes again. I don't think she was on the phone for two hours with her secret lover around, but maybe her lover came after the phone calls. After all, she had sex twelve hours before she died and according to her mother, she had spent the whole day in the casino, getting her treats. If she had sex around noon, did she meet her husband or somebody else?"

"I understand, I'll talk to the people of the beauty area. Maybe they saw her with a man. And I'll try to find out, where she had lunch. She didn't check into her room before six in the evening, I checked her papers."

"And I'll check if the mother, the friends or their partners own a nine millimeter. If one of them does, I want something more than "I was with my husband' to believe them. The mother was negative on GSR, but she had a few hours to clean herself up. Does the vic have siblings?"

"Yes. Three brothers, one sister."

"I'm not sure if you leave your robe at the door when you see your brother, but maybe your sister. You processed the cell phone, did the vic made any calls? Received calls?"

"No. All she got was a text around eight of her sister, telling her not to be too excited, the big day was there soon and it would be the best day of her life. The vic responded with something like, she was positive excited."

"Nothing that indicates, she gets a visitor."

"But, if I had an affair, I'd have a second cell phone."

Sara stopped for a second. "You're right. I didn't find a second cell phone in her room. Did you?"

"No."

"It's maybe not the best idea to take your secret cell phone with you, she can't hide in a pocket when she wears her dress. And the little handbag isn't a good place either. So she has to keep it somewhere else…I think, I need to call the detective and take her with me to Maria's place. I bet there's a computer too. A sloppy e-mail from your lover? The boyfriend can't check on your account when you don't tell him your password."

"There's the possibility, that you waste a lot of energy on something, that doesn't exist and you accuse a woman of something, she never did." Jules had been listening to Greg's and Sara's conversation for a minute, without that the two noticed her. Now they turned, surprised to see the profiler.

"That's part of the job. We need to accuse a lot of people to get evidence. Or do you want to tell me, you're sure Maria Fortunate didn't have a lover?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Can you tell us anything else that might help us to find her killer?"

"No. Not yet."

"In that case I'll get Sofia and have a look at Fortunate's place." Sara got her cell out and called Sofia.

"How many guests have been in Vegas already?" Jules asked.

"I've no idea. The mother said something like, she had to tell everybody." Greg thought it was grotesque, you came for a wedding and could stay for a funeral instead.

"Will they stick around for the funeral?"

"Probably. At least the bride's side."

"If you go with the secret lover theory, you might want to check on some of the guests."

"I'll talk to her mother, she might be able to tell me, what her daughter did. If she went to a gym on regular base, some groups, whatever. Most times the mother knows more than the partner."

"Carlos Miguel didn't strike me as a boyfriend, who doesn't know what his girlfriend was doing." Jules disagreed with Sara. "I think, he knew where she was and with whom."

"There's always a way to keep things secret."

Jules raised an eyebrow.

"I gotta go, catch you guys later." Sara took her kit and left the room without further words.

Greg watcher her walking away before he turned to Jules.

"Did she just tell us, that there's something, we don't know about?"

"I am not entirely sure if she was talking about herself or about people in general."

"You're the profiler, the psychologist and her friend, you should know."

"You're her friend too, you don't know and you can only guess. It's Sara, some things she can keep secret."

"But you'll figure the secrets out."

"I'll try." Jules didn't like the idea that Sara had a secret, she didn't know of. Not if this was a secret, it was better Jules knew of. But she had to talk with Sara first. If her friend didn't want her to know, Jules had to accept it.

* * *

"They didn't share an apartment, that's unusual for people, who wants to get married." Sara had checked on the address of the fiancé and the vic, two different addresses.

"Some couples need space." Sofia tried to find an answer.

"Yeah, but do you get married then?"

"Why not? They wanted to buy a house, I remember the fiancé say. Why bother with moving two times, when you can just move into a house after the wedding? And if the apartments were convenient for their jobs, you can just stay over at your fiancé's place when you're lonely."

"Looks like he saved the money for the wedding and the house."

"You think really material, Sara."

"It's a material world."

"Mhm." Sofia opened the door to Maria Fortunate's apartment. A tidy place, a door on the left, another one to the right. The big main room was for the kitchen and the living room.

"You like the husband as the killer?"

"It's not about who I like to be the killer, Sofia. It's about facts. Fact is, he saves money, fact is, he has no alibi, fact is, it's very weird that two people want to get married, have sex, but don't share a place."

"So if you want to get married, you want to share your condo with your partner before the wedding?"

"Yes."

"What if, he has a condo too? Would you give yours up?"

"At one point probably."

"And this point would be before the wedding."

"This case is not about me, Sofia."

"I know. Do you want me to help you searching for evidence?"

"Sure." Sara smiled a bit. "I always appreciate your help."

"And I always enjoy working with you." Sofia hold Sara by her arm for a second. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Just annoyed. It seems like the answer to this case is right in front of us and we don't see it. I hate it when I feel like, I missed the most important point and the killer runs free because of that."

"I don't think you missed something. If there's a hint of the killer, we'll find it and we'll find him."

"The good can't always win."

"No, but we make it as hard as possible for the bad guys to win. Come on, investigator, go and investigate the living room, I'll start with the kitchen area."

"What puts you in charge here?"

"The fact that I used to be a supervisor."

"Acting supervisor...acting, like pretending…"

"Bitch." Sofia smirked a bit. It was better having Sara insulting her than being strange like before.

"I found a laptop." Sara bagged the laptop. She would ask Archie to get into the e-mail account and possible communities online.

"I found matching coffee mugs for him and her."

"Keep it in mind for your wedding one day."

"I'll put it on the list and expect you to buy a set."

"Sounds like a cheap present, I take it." Sara started to open all drawers, looked in boxes, under pillows. No cell phone. She started to look into some photo books.

"You think, she has her lover on photo? Open to see for everybody?" Sofia had finished with the kitchen area. Nothing interesting hit her.

"Not her lover, but maybe I'll find some people, she seemed to be very close to. Somebody, who shows up on photos all the time."

"You know, she could have a female lover and nobody would think anything, if she has photos of them. Only two friends on a weekend trip, some girl's time out."

"Usually it's a man. She wants to marry a man, why should she have an affair with a woman?"

"Because she can't have a wedding with a woman. And a wedding with a man is the perfect alibi to make everybody believe, you're not a lesbian. Would also explain why she kept her apartment."

"I appreciate your open-minded ideas, detective, but our vic had sex twelve hours before she died and doc Robins didn't say anything about, that she had sex with a woman. It seemed to me, he was talking about sex with a man."

"Okay. I'll have a look in the bathroom, maybe we can find a toothbrush with DNA, that doesn't belong to the husband."

"I think, we think too obvious." Sara stopped the blonde. "Remember, the fiancé was in this apartment too. We need to look at a place, where he didn't look for something." Sara looked around, opened a closet, got something out, that looked to Sofia like wool and knitting needles.

"Knitting?"

"For one it's knitting…" Sara got her hand in the ball of wool. "…for others it's the perfect place to hide a cell phone." She got a cell phone out and smiled.

"Wow."

"Where's no way your curious and nosy fiancé has a look in the ball of wool. Always hide your thing in things, your boyfriend doesn't like. Knitting stuff, cleaning stuff, they all don't touch things like that."

"Where did you learn that?"

"Life taught me well." Sara turned on the cell phone. "Damn it, we need a pin number. Well, we've got computer for that in the lab. Do you think, there's more of hidden things in here? Like love letters?"

"I doubt that. Let's start with the cell phone and the laptop. That might be all we needed." Sofia had a look at her watch. The night was still young, they could close the case until their shift ended.

* * *

"Misses Miller, I haven't seen you in a long, long time." Jules smiled when Sofia entered the office. It had been three months, that Sofia had come in as Misses Miller.

"I missed therapy, so I came back."

"Therapy or your therapist?"

"Therapy. I've a friend, who reminds me a lot of you, doctor Weinberg." Sofia sat on the couch. Had the furniture she scared first, made her feel uncomfortable, she liked it now. The couch was comfortable, in Sofia's eyes, it was a shame, that she didn't have a couch like that for her evenings in front of the TV.

"Really? Must be an amazing woman." Jules laughed and handed Sofia her cola. No need to offer a tea, there was a can of cola for the blonde in the little fridge in the office.

"She is. Thanks."

"Did you tell her?"

"She knows it already." Sofia took a sip. "Jules, is it okay when I go on coming here? I mean, we can meet anywhere else if you want."

"I like my office. Or would you prefer to see me anywhere else?"

"I like your couch."

"Good."

"I've no real idea why I made this appointment with your secretary. I mean, he's cute and I like to talk to him on the phone, but, I can't really tell you any problems. I guess, I made the appointment because I simply wanted to talk to you in private, without having somebody interrupting us. Does that sound strange?"

"No, not at all."

"Do you mind? I mean, it's kind of wasting your time."

"Oh Sofia." Jules laughed out loud, got next to the blonde and hugged her. She doubted that it was possible to waste any time when Sofia was around. Even if they would sit around for an hour, not saying a word at all, Jules would appreciate the time with her friend.

"I can't waste my time as long as you're around; but don't tell Nina."

"Everything we talk about here is confidential and won't leave the room." Sofia chuckled. That was suppose to be Jules' sentence, now she could use it.

"I see, you learnt. Tell me, how is living with the puppy?"

"Great. First I was a little bit concerned if it's a good idea to move in with Greg, to move in with anybody at all. I mean, you do things like that when you're young and want to save some money. But I've to say, it's great. I've my own bathroom, I've my room, it's like having my own apartment. We share the kitchen, but when I think about how often I used the kitchen in my old apartment since I'm part of this group, I don't need a kitchen for myself."

"No problems with Janet? She's fine with you and Greg sharing the place?"

"Yes. It's not like it's likely that Greg and me have an affair."

"Not? What makes it so impossible?"

"Beside the fact, that he's into brunettes and I'm a blonde? I'm not interested in him. I love him as a friend, never want to miss him, but that's it."

"Honey, if you stop dying your hair, you'll be a brunette."

Sofia gave Jules the evil eyes for a second. That was a topic, she didn't want to talk about. "I like being blonde, it suits me. Fits perfect to my blue eyes. Or do you want to see me as a brunette?"

"Yeah, I'd love to see a photo of you with brown hair."

"I'll show you one; if you promise you won't mention it to the others."

"Promise." Jules laughed.

"Good. I don't want to have Greg coming after me, I don't want to break his heart."

"Can I ask you something very personal, Sofia?" Jules was serious now.

"You're the therapist, you can ask everything."

"I'm your friend, not your therapist, that's the difference between you and all the others. And as your friend I want to ask first, if you're fine with a very private question."

"I told you a lot of very private things. Things, I haven't told anybody else of. So yes, ask me."

"Did you ever think of having a relationship with a woman?"

"You have a girlfriend, Jules."

"I wasn't talking about me. I mean in general."

"Do you think women are different from men? In relation to me and my problem."

"I don't know. Maybe. You ever thought of that?"

"Like, I can't trust a man because I want a woman? Sounds strange and not likely. I am attracted to man. At least I have so far." It was easy to say, she'd never be attracted to a woman, but she couldn't be sure, could she? She was also sure, she could never tell anybody what happened to her in high school and she told it two people already. It seemed like she met Jules, was friend with Sara and Greg, nothing was impossible anymore.

"Have you never been attracted to a woman? High school, college, gym?"

"Where do you want to go with this, Jules?" Sofia didn't feel comfortable talking about this. She didn't want to think about women, she wanted to know, what she could do, that she could trust a man to have a relationship.

"I want you to think about why you push men away. Is it really because of your experience in high school? And could you feel better when you have a woman by your side? You don't have to answer that to me, Sofia, just think about it. I'll end this topic now." Jules could feel, Sofia wasn't comfortable anymore. She didn't want to answer, she didn't want to think about this topic right now.

"Tell me what we do on our next night off. Are we all due for a dance?"

"Yes. But can you go out and have fun with a woman by your side? Won't you feel bored and chained? Now that you're not allowed to flirt anymore."

"I'm still allowed to flirt, everything else, I've my wonderful girlfriend for. I'm not interested in anybody else."

"Why did Nina not take the job at LVPD? She could have have the other part of the profiler job."

"We don't want to mix our private life and the job up. And we don't think it's wise to work together, there are a lot of people, who would give us a hard time. They all know about her and me, so there's no chance to keep it low and out of work. She's working with the Feds, that's alright. Same side of the fence, but very different employer. Sooner or later we'll step on each others toes."

"And you don't mind that?"

"No, it's all business. She'll give her best to her boss, I'll do the same with mine. Actually only our bosses will have trouble, Nina and me will be alright."

"I hope you're right with that."

"We talked about that. It's amazing how many problems you can solve when you only talk to your partner or whoever is involved with your problem."

"You have to say something like that, you're a psychologist, you do nothing else than talking, making people talk and get your clues out of conversations. If people wouldn't talk anymore, you were without a job."

* * *

"Ricardo Sallasa." Sara gave Sofia a copy of a driver's license.

"Who's that?"

"The man, who sent very romantic emails to our vic, he also sent her text messages a few times a day. And yes, she answered in the same way. They weren't holding back in their conversations."

"You got that from the phone and the computer?"

"Yes. Archie did the computer part, I worked the phone. You think, you could get this man in? I'd like to talk to him."

"It's my job."

"Yeah, you're the detective, go detect."

"I'll get him in, get you everything we need to nail him. I want to close this case tonight. Do you think you can do that, investigator?"

"I know how to do my job, go and do yours." Sara smiled a bit. "And be careful, he has a gun. A registered nine millimeter."

"You were busy, weren't you?"

"Kind of."

"Did you go home to sleep?"

"I had a snooze in the lab, two hours. Sometimes you need to sacrifice your sleep to close a case."

"No comment on that." Sofia herself had only four hours of sleep and one hours with Jules, before she came back to the department. She took the copy and left the room. Time to bring a suspect in.

* * *

"He isn't in the system." Greg had tried to find something out about Ricardo Sallasa.

"Did you find anything about him?"

"Well, thanks to goole and Facebook, people don't have secrets anymore. I found him, he works in a fast food restaurant, twenty-nine, not married, no kids. There are no photos of our victim on his Facebook account but see this." He handed her a printout.

"Isn't that the husband?"

"Yes, that is the fiancé and – if Maria would be still alive – now her husband. They worked together."

"She comes along, wants to visit him at his job, meets Sallasa. They start an affair. So far, we have a lovely story how they met, but why did he shoot her? If he wanted her, all he had to do was killing the husband. Now she's gone, he won't have her."

"If I can't have her, nobody will have her." Greg simply said. "The old way of thinking. Alive and mine or dead. Some guys just can't take a 'no' as an answer." Sara had to think of Sofia, and the little things, the blonde had told her about her life. Sofia knew, that some guys took whatever they wanted and left the rest behind. The only difference was, Sofia was alive.

"I wonder if that thinking will ever leave people's head."

"It won't and you know that. That's why our job is safe, which is in a very sad way good to know. Want to talk to Sallasa when he's in?"

"You found the photo."

"You found him. Besides, I go on with the evidence. Maybe I can bring you something more, I'm sure Maria Fortunate had an account too."

"Yeah, but you won't find anything on that, she used her laptop for Sallasa and I'm sure, she used another name if she had any contacts to him via Facebook or something like that."

"Maybe he did the same."

"Maybe you should have a look inside his apartment while he is here. Call the judge, get a warrant."

"Alright, boss."

Sara slapped him softly of the back of his head. He knew, she hated it, when he called her boss. They were both CSI, she wasn't better than him. She had just more experience in the field. For that, he was more experienced in the lab.

"What happened to you?" Sara almost dropped her cup of coffee when she saw Sofia. The detective had a band aid over her left eye and some visible scratches on her arms.

"Our person of interest made himself guilty of assaulting an officer. He didn't like that I invited him over. Got me once in the face and when another officer tried to cuff him and I wanted to help out, he played nasty kitten."

"Are you alright?" Sara took a closer look at the scratches. They weren't deep, she didn't have to worry about them. "Your eye?"

"Four stitches. Nothing to worry about."

"Concussion?"

"No. I'm alright, Sara. Really."

"You'll go home after this, Sofia."

"The last time I checked, you were a CSI and not my captain. I'll stay at least until we've closed the case. Don't argue with me, you'd do the same, we both know that. Do you have anything on Sallasa?"

"Greg found out, he worked together with Carlos Miguel. Probably he met Maria Fortunate when she visited her fiancé. He's over at Sallasa's place now, got a warrant and will look for some evidence of her in his apartment. Did you see anything?"

"We never went in. He was outside in the garden, we had the fight and went back here."

"Who stitched you?"

"I was at the doctor, Sara. Stop worrying."

"I can't. If I'd stop worrying, it meant, I stopped seeing you as an important person to me. That won't happen." Sara's words were soft, almost fragile. Sofia felt like hugging her friend, but they were in the department, she couldn't do that here. Instead she took Sara's cup of coffee and stroke with her finger shortly over Sara's hand, when she took the cup.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Sara smiled a bit. "Come on, let's kick his ass for that."

"You're not suppose to take cases personal."

"If the little wanker hurts my friend, I take it very personal." Sara opened the door to the interrogation room. Ricardo Sallasa was sitting on a chair across the room, grinning. He didn't seem to have any injuries. When he saw Sofia, he smiled.

"Haven't got enough, puta?"

"Ricardo Sallasa, that's Sara Sidle with the crime lab." Sofia ignored the insult.

"Another puta."

"Do you need an interpreter?" Sara asked the man cold.

"No."

"In that case, I'd appreciate it when you talk in English."

"Why don't you just go on your knees for me?"

"Did you say the same to Maria Fortunate when you killed her?" Sara ignored his suggestion. She had heard worse things.

"Mind your own business."

"Since I was the one who examined her room, who had to look at her, dead on the bed, one night before her wedding, she is my business. What did happen, Ricardo? Did she broke your heart?"

"Coño."

"I don't speak Spanish."

"So far, he hasn't said anything smart." Sofia leant back. "No need to understand him, he's obsessed with the female anatomy."

"Most men are obsessed with things, they can't have."

"I get every chica I want."

"Beside Maria. No wait, you had her. In fact, you had sex with her. The day before she got married. Was that the last try to make her change her mind? A man like you, Ricardo, doesn't like to share a woman. She was about to marry your colleague. I bet that was really bad for your ego. Did you plan to go on with your little affair after the wedding?"

"I bet she told you, it was over once she was married." Sofia said. "I bet, the sex the day before her wedding, was the goodbye sex. Looks like she loved her fiancé more. Or you weren't good enough to make her change her mind. Which one was it, Ricardo?"

"She was mine."

"She was about to become Carlos Miguel's wife. And you knew, she'd remind you of your waterloo whenever she showed up to visit her husband at work. You and Carlos, you worked together. That's how you met her. Did you flirt with her when he wasn't looking?"

"I get every chica I want, why bother with this one?"

"Because you always want what you can't have. That's just human."

"Bullshit."

"Okay, let's go to the facts." Sara put a photo with a gun on the table. "That's your gun, a nine millimeter."

"And?"

"Maria was shot with a nine millimeter. The detective found the gun on you when you assaulted her. Your gun is now in the lab, we'll test it and when we find out, it was the same gun, that killed Maria Fortunate, you look at murder one. You know what that means. You'll stay the rest of your sorry life in jail, might even get the needle. Just because you've got an ego issue."

"Nobody leaves Ricardo Sallasa."

At least not alive. To give you something for your ego, I've to tell you, you were good. You didn't leave any traces in the room, no fingerprints, no DNA. There weren't even any DNA on her, so you didn't share a long kiss when she opened the door for you. What I don't understand is, why did she leave her robe at the door? Or wasn't the sex around noon the last sex? Was the sex, you were there for, supposed to be the last sex? She opens the door, gets back to the bed and you shoot. Did it make you feel like a real man? To shoot a woman? An unarmed woman."

"Nobody tells me when something is over."

"I tell you, your life is over when we get all the evidence we need. So far, it looks good for us and bad for you."

"Won't go down because of dos putas."

"You'll go down because you shot a woman."

"Lawyer."

* * *

"They always cry for a lawyer when they have nowhere else to go. Cowards." Sofia took a mouthful of water.

"Go home." Sara put her hand on Sofia's shoulder. She had seen how her friend tried to smuggle a pill into the water without having her seen it.

"I'm fine."

"You've a headache. Don't make me call Brass and have you send home in a black and white."

"Don't baby me."

"Then act like a responsible adult and go home. There's nothing left you can do, Sallasa is in custody, we'll work the evidence, you can call it a night. Please."

Sofia sighed. "I hate when you asked me to leave."

"You know it's better for you."

"And you know, I can't reject a wish of you. Call me if anything happens, okay? Anything you might need my help with."

"I will. But I won't call you for little things and I also won't call you, if we get the evidence we need. I'll tell you later, but not while you're sleeping."

"When will you go home?"

"As soon as we have everything we need or as soon as there's nothing left for me to do. I won't sleep in the lab again."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay." Sofia got up. "I'll see you later."

"Later, detective."

* * *

"You know what the best part of my new job as a profiler is?" Jules got her arm around Sara and pulled her close to her. They were in the "Double Choc", having a night off. Together with Greg and Sofia, they had arranged an evening out for only the four of them. In honor of their old days.

"You met Nina."

"Well, I did that while I was a trainee, I'm talking about the actual job as a profiler."

"Money on a regular basis? Not too worry about if you'll have enough patients to pay the bills? Living in a condo of your own, only tow blocks away from mine and knowing, you earn enough money to pay for it?"

"Again, you think too much as an investigator and not like a human. Try to focus on things you can't buy."

"It has a lovely view." Sara smiled.

"I should punish you for that, Sara Sidle. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Really?"

"Yes." Jules kissed Sara's cheek softly. "I love working with you. I love watching you doing your job, I love to have you around me, to know, you're alright. No matter if day or night, I'm always happy when I go to a scene and see you."

"Ditto."

"That was the reason why I never wanted to work for the Feds. They pay better than the LVPD, but I wanted to work with you. If you get a case and the Feds want to mess in it, we had to work on the same fence but not together."

"That might happen with you and Nina now."

"We can handle that."

"What makes you think, I can't handle it when you're a Fed?"

"I couldn't handle it. I don't want to hold anything back because my boss wants it that way. I want to work with you, that means, I want to be absolutely open and honest."

"Good to know." Sara snuggled into Jules' arms. "We'll get in trouble if we go on like this."

"No, we won't."

"Somebody could tell her, you had me this close."

"I'll tell her. There's no need to pretend, we're not close. She knew, we were sharing a bed when I was over during my trainee time. She was fine with that. We don't have an open relationship, we've a relationship build on trust. I trust her when she's away, there is no jealousy." Nina was gone for a week to Denver. Her boss sent her there, the FBI had a big case up north and needed another profiler. As long as there wasn't anything big happen in Las Vegas, Nina had to stay there.

"She'll be back Wednesday?"

"Yes. If nothing comes up and changes the plan. If it does, I'll go up next weekend and visit her. Do you want to join me?"

"I think, you and Nina are fine without me. I'll stay with the rest in Vegas, I'm sure there'll be enough work around for me."

"There's always enough work."

"Yes."

"Hey, the blonde is getting closer to the guy, she found an hour ago." Greg joined them and turned their attention to Sofia, who was dancing with a man, she met this night.

"There's not much space between them." Jules cocked her head.

"No, I wonder if he gets her home tonight. It's about time that Sofia gets somebody. What brings me to Sara…"

"Just leave us alone, Greg, will you?"

"Snappy. Means I'm right and she thinks the same."

"Can't see you moving away, puppy."

"I won't make a single step without a kiss of both of you."

"Janet?"

"Doesn't mind."

"You think." Jules kissed Greg on the cheek.

"I know." He held his cheek to Sara.

"You're annoying, puppy." She pulled him in her arms and kissed him. "Go and play, but be a good puppy."

"I am. I met a guy, who is the same bowling center than I am. We'll have a battle with the darts now. Your kisses were my lucky charm. Can't lose with them. Thanks bitches." He grinned and left.

"You know, if anybody else calls us bitches, we'd be mad." Sara chuckled.

"Yeah, but the puppy can call us a bitch, because that's what we are. Beautiful, intelligent, talented, charming and hot."

"So what does puppy stand for?"

"Playful, unusual…uhm…"

"Perfect, protective and…"

"Youngish."

"Yes, that's our puppy." Sara smiled. She was sure, Greg liked that. "You think, it's something serious with Sofia and this man?"

"I don't know." Jules looked at Sofia, who was still dancing with the man. Neither Jules nor Sara knew him, but that didn't mean anything.

"She'll push him away, as soon as he tries to get a little bit closer to her. He will think, he can take her home and as soon as he suggests something like that, she'll push him away with no chance of a second change."

"You think?"

"We both know." Sara looked at Jules. "I don't need to be a psychologist, I don't need to know what you talk with her, when she comes alone as Misses Miller. She thinks, men only want to use her, that they're gone when she wakes up."

"How much did she tell you?"

"A lot. You know she kind of dared me?"

"Did she? Again? How?"

"More or less she said, I can't make her having sex with me. No matter what I'd try. Under other circumstances I had proved her wrong…"

"But you won't do that?"

"Like I told her, if I'd do that, she knew, it wasn't to use her."

"Proving her wrong only to be right is like using her."

"And we both know, I don't do anything, that might hurt her. All I'll do is, making sure, this guy will accept the refusal and if he doesn't, I'll make him understand. Like this idiot a few months ago."

"The CSI takes care of the detective."

"When we're off duty, yes. When we're working, she takes care of me. I think, it's a very balanced relationship." Sara grinned. She knew, she could trust Sofia with her life when they were out in the fields and she hoped, Sofia knew the same, when they were off duty. That was a reason you had friends, to make and be sure, they're alright.

* * *

"You lost the brunette, who was all over you." Sofia sat next to Sara, who was sitting on the bar, drinking a cocktail.

"She's at home."

"Without you?"

"Yes. What about your dancer?"

"Home."

"Without you?" Sara turned the table.

"Yes. I told him what he can expect from this evening and he wasn't longer interested. At least he accepted my decision."

"If not, I had an eye on you. You were safe, detective."

"I'm always safe when you're around." Sofia got her arm around Sara and put her head on Sara's shoulder.

"Want something to drink, Sofia?" The bartender asked.

"No, thanks. I think, I hold on to your ex."

"She better than any drink I could fix you." He smiled and walked away.

"Why did you leave him? He's nice."

"He is. But I felt, it's nothing that will last for a long time. We had a few really nice months, I don't regret anything, but it was clear, it won't be a relationship for a long time. And I want something, that might work out a longer time, nothing for a few months."

"You're ready to settle down?"

"Yes." Sara laughed. "Sounds awful old and boring."

"No, it doesn't."

"It depends on who you ask."

"You can ask me."

"I know your answer."

"Like it?"

"Yes." Sara finished her drink.

"Care for a dance?"

"You haven't danced enough tonight?"

"No, I skipped the gym this week, it's my work out."

"Can't let you lose this stunning body of yours." Sara grinned and got up.

"No, you've to take care of my body, that includes making sure, I'll stay fit." Sofia smirked. She loved dancing, it was the best kind of workout, you could get.

* * *

After a lot of fast songs the DJ had changed his mind and had put on a slow song. Sofia got her arms around Sara, her head back on the shoulder of the brunette and snuggled into her arms.

"I bet your guy will be regret it now that he isn't with you anymore." Sara said with a smile.

"His own fault. But to be fair, he never had a chance, I never had any intentions to take him home, to see him again. I saw him dancing, he is a really good dancer, that was all I was after. Somebody to dance with. You were occupied with Jules."

"One word and I had made some space for you, detective."

"No, I want you to have some quality time with your psychologist. I have my monthly appointment with her, you need to get your time with her, when Nina isn't there. And like I said, he is a really good dancer."

"Unfortunately, he wanted to dance with you not only on the dance floor."

"Yes."

"Can't blame him for that."

"No chance." Sofia closed her eyes. She felt good and safe in Sara's arms. Why did she waste time with the guy? Okay, it wasn't a waste of time, but Sara was a good dancer too. She should just dance with Sara all nights long, then she didn't have to send anybody away. Didn't have to fight this little fear, that was always there and told her, the man might not accept her refusal and got aggressive. Or that she might end up acting again like in high school and couldn't stop men from harming her.

"Is the puppy still around?" Sofia hadn't really seen Greg tonight.

"No, he left."

"Shall we leave too?"

"If you want."

"Your place or mine?"

"We've the same way home, it doesn't matter." Sara blinked. "I get us a taxi."

"What's wrong with a walk? I think, I had a drink too much and could use some fresh air if you don't mind."

"I don't."

They left the club and started their walk home. It was around a dozen blocks, not the best area, but also not an area, they had to worry too much. As long as they were together, they should be fine.

"Where had the puppy been all night long?"

"He met a guy, he bowls with, and they wanted to have a dart competition. Came to Jules and me to collect two kisses for good luck."

"He forgot me?"

"No, he didn't want to disturb you and the guy."

"Greg will never disturb me with a guy. Any guy, who gets pissed because he talks to me, can go home immediately."

Sara laughed.

"What?"

"Oh, I just thought, it must be a group thing, that we all want to send people, who don't want to accept our friendship, away."

"The three of you are very important to me, if anybody doesn't accept that, this person is wrong for me. Nina and Janet are great, they don't mind when Greg and Jules want to have some time with us alone, they also enjoy spending time with us. Why are they no members of our club?"

"You can't be a member when you're involved with one of us. No relationship in the group, that endangered the group."

"I didn't read that paragraph."

"Seems like you didn't really read anything of the contract you signed."

"Not really. Why was Jules hitting on me all the time? She was violating the rules."

"She knew you'd say no. She was never serious."

"Never serious? I felt important for no reason?"

"Sofia." Sara took Sofia's hand.

"I know, I am important."

"Very important."

"Thanks." Sofia got her arm around Sara's waist. "Can I ask you something, Sara?"

"Sure."

"Can you imagine to go on holidays with me? I haven't been away for ages and I'd like to see the ocean again."

"When we both can have some days off together, I'll come with you. What do you think of San Francisco?"

"I've never seen the Golden Gate Bridge."

"We walk over it or rent a bike and have a bicycle tour along the harbor. See Alcatraz, Lombard Street and get lost in the million shops."

"Since when are you interested in shopping?"

"Since I can do it with you."

"Cute." Sofia pulled Sara spontaneous in her arms and kissed her cheek before she got her keys out. "Home sweet home." They got the elevator and stepped in. The last level, their level. The whole building was quiet, probably they were the last to come home tonight.

"Now we're back to the old topic." Sofia said when they left the elevator.

"Which topic?"

"Your place or my place? Left door or right door?"

"What makes you think we won't go each in our own condo?"

"I don't want to."

"Don't play this game, Sofia." Sara warned quietly. "You can do a lot of things, but don't dare me too much. You know from yourself what can happen, if people dare you. You end up doing things, you usually don't do. So think good and carefully what you're doing. Don't dare me if you can't take any possible consequences." Sara knew her limits, Sara knew her body, she knew her intentions and she knew, that there was a line and if she crossed this line, or was made to cross it, there was no way back.

"Are you warning me?"

"I'm fair."

"What if I want to play?"

"Don't do it. Please."

"Okay." Sofia sighed. "I'll see you later for lunch."

"Yeah. Have a good rest of the night."

"You too."

Sara opened the door to her condo. She didn't have to see the boots to know, Jules was in her guest room. Sara's place was two blocks further away from the club, but Jules preferred to stay here instead of her own place. They'd have lunch together, together with Sofia, Greg and Janet.

She went the bathroom, stripped down and entered the shower. Just a quick shower to get rid off the sweat and then it was time to go to bed. She was tired, somehow dancing all night made her more tired than working a double. But it was more fun, so Sara didn't mind. After applying her body lotion and a minute with the hair dryer, so that her pillow wouldn't be soaking wet, Sara left to her bedroom. She didn't need light in her hallway, she knew her way. And because she made the decision, she wouldn't bother with looking for her sleep shirt and boxers, she didn't need the light in her bedroom either.

She had just closed the door when she realized, somebody was in her room. There was only a little bit of light coming in, but it was enough to see, somebody was in her bed. Seems like Jules didn't feel like sleeping in the guest room. Sara stopped for a second. Was she supposed to get her sleep shirt and boxes now? Months ago, she didn't mind sleeping naked next to Jules, but her friend was in a relationship now, Nina would probably not appreciate it, when Sara was naked in bed with Jules.

It was likely that her clothes were in the bed. Well, Nina had to live with the knowledge, Sara was naked next to Jules or Jules had to leave this little detail out of their conversation. Sara didn't want to turn on the light and wake Jules up, only to find something to wear.

She lifted the blanket and got into bed. She could just stay on her side and everything was less bad. What was she thinking? It wasn't bad at all. She didn't have any intentions to do anything, all she wanted was to sleep. Was it better to go and sleep in the guest room? Maybe she could get a shirt and a boxer from her laundry. Better than nothing, wasn't it? She was about to move the blanket again, so that she could leave the bed, when an arm got around her and pulled her in. The second skin met skin she knew, it wasn't Jules, who was in her bed.

"What took you so long?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I missed you." The arm stayed around her, pulled her closer to a warm body. A leg got over her legs, made it impossible to leave. She was caught in her own bed.

"I…"

"You forgot to get dressed."

"My shirt is somewhere here."

"If you want it, you need to undress me, I wear it."

"Why?"

"I was too lazy to get my stuff."

"Let me just get another shirt." The arm and the leg stayed, there was no way, Sara could leave her bed.

"I don't want you to leave."

"I need something to wear."

"No, you don't." Lips kissed her gently on the throat. "There's really no need for that."

"Don't."

"Why?"

"Because…" Because it was wrong, because they'd regret it, because…if they didn't stop now, it was too late.

"I dare you."

"I won't give in."

"Are you daring me now? You know what happened the last time you dared me, don't you, Sara?"

Yes she did. She could remember.

"Sofia…"

"No." Sofia's lips had worked their way up to Sara's mouth, kissed the corner of her mouth, her tongue stroking over the lips.

"We…" The begin of the word was enough to give Sofia the chance to enter Sara's mouth. Gently her tongue touched Saras, the lips of the blonde getting harder on Saras and Sofia's right hand found Sara's nipple, starting to rub it.

It was wrong, it couldn't be right, Sara knew it. But she left the limit far behind, she knew, there was no way back. Sofia had pulled her too far, had made her lose her limit, had made her forget what was right and wrong. Sara started to respond the kiss, let her tongue play with Sofias. Some mistakes, you just have to make.

* * *

When Sara woke up she thought, she had a weird dream. Sofia in her bed, kissing the blonde, her hands everywhere. A really weird dream. She must have had the wrong drinks last night, there was no other explanation for these dreams.

"Slept tight?"

Sara almost got a heart attack. Not only that this voice was definitely Sofia's voice, she also realized at the same moment, she heard that voice, she was naked. It was a dream, wasn't it? Dreams couldn't be reality, could they?

"Y-y-yes. Thanks. And you ?"If she let her eyes closed, this might be a dream too and she would wake up and everything was, like it was suppose to be.

"Perfect. You're a little bit pale, Sara."

"I'm…" She didn't dare to look at Sofia, what if she found out, the blonde was naked too? All her hopes, that she had only a weird dreams, would gone then.

"Shit, tell me it was a dream, Sofia. Tell me, it wasn't real."

"Depends on what you're talking about."

"Are you dressed or naked?"

"Why don't you look for yourself?"

"I can't."

"Not?" Sofia's arm slipped over Sara and a second later, Sofia's body was on top of Sara. Skin on skin. The chances, this was a dream too, were small. To be honest, they didn't exist.

"Shit."

"You're not very nice, Sara."

"I'm…" Shocked? Horrified? Dead?

"Tensed." Sofia got her arms under Sara's head, pulled her up a bit and kissed her.

"Sofia…"

"Try to relax a bit, Sara, will you?"

"How am I suppose to do that?"

"Try it." Sofia slipped down of Sara, pulled in her arms and kissed the naked shoulder with a little kiss. "Maybe I should talk to you."

"Okay." Talk was good, wasn't it?

"Jules asked me a question the last time I was in her office."

Jules wasn't a good topic, Sara didn't want to talk about Jules, she didn't want to listen about anything of Jules and she didn't want her friend to be in her condo at the moment. She had one huge problem, she didn't need a second.

"I thought, she's there to give advice and not asking questions."

"Sometimes you get an advice by a question."

"Okay."

"She asked me if it's possible that I push away men because I want to be with a woman."

"Is she trying to hit on you?"

"No." Sofia chuckled. "She didn't want an answer and changed the topic after that question immediately. But it stayed in my head and I started to think about it. There had been a lot of men I was interested in, a lot of men I spent time with, but as soon as they came closer to me, I pushed them away. I slept with some, I had a kind of relationship with some, but I never felt like, I could stay with them for a long time. Sooner or later – most times very soon – I got scared, they'll leave me. So I pushed them away.

I never had the feeling with anybody I met, I could trust this person. Trust them regardless whatever was about to happen to me. You are the first person I trust. Completely. Even if I haven't told you as much of my life as I have Jules, I felt always closer to you. I knew, when I was with you, everything was alright, nothing could happen to me. There's no way you'll hurt me in any kind of way, use me."

"Until last night."

"First of all, it was me, who sneaked into your bed. You wanted to leave, I made you stay, didn't let you go. Second, you warned me out in the hallway, I didn't care, ignored it. I wanted it this way. I knew what I was doing. Third, you didn't do anything, Sara. I don't know what you can remember, I've the feeling, there are some blank moments, but I can assure you, you didn't do anything. We kissed, that's all. We never had sex. You stopped me. It was you, who said no and made me stop. You didn't use me, you didn't try anything, you acted the way you thought, is the best for me."

"Thanks God for that." Sara sighed released. It was still bad, but it wasn't a huge nightmare anymore, only a big one.

Sofia laughed. "If I think of all the men I sent away, who wanted nothing else than to have sex with me and go and now I hear you., talking like the thought of sex with me is like a dangerous disease, I know why I'm here."

"I didn't want to be rude…" Finally Sara managed to look at Sofia. The blonde was smiling, she didn't look a little bit upset, didn't look tensed.

"I know. No offense taken, relax. I don't regret anything that happened last night and I hope, neither do you."

"I'm not sure. We're not suppose to do…that."

"Forget for a second these non-existing rules of our club."

"I didn't think of that, I thought of us."

"We're not suppose to be an us?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because…it can't be right. We work together, we're friends, we…this will only make things complicated."

"Only if we make them complicated."

"What makes you sure, you won't push me away?"

"Because you never tried to force me into something. You try to stop me, exactly the opposite of what all the others tried. And the fact that I trust you with my life. No partner before had that."

"I'm still not convinced that this is a good idea."

"I won't try to convince you. There's no need to hurry into something. But – and that's new for you and me – I will try to change your mind. In a very gentle and careful way. I'll hit on you, Sara." Sofia had to laugh when she said that. It sounded weird to her. But it was the conclusion she came to when she thought about Jules' question. When she let go of all fears and was honest to herself.

"And you'll accept a no?"

"I will. At least for a minute and then I'll try another way. Like when you say no to a dance, I'll try to get you into having a drink with me. If you tell me, you won't come into my bed, I'll surprise you in your bed."

"You did that already."

"Yes. I should feel sorry for that but I don't. But what I will do is, I'll stop everything when you tell me, that you don't want me to come after you. You tell me, you are not interested in me, you don't want to have a relationship with me and I'll back off immediately. But as long as you're not sure what you want, I'll try to make up your mind and go for me. Is that alright with you?"

Sara thought about that. Sofia wanted to be with her, wanted more than just being friends. Was she able to give that to the blonde? Could she imagine to be with Sofia? Did she have feelings strong enough? No, she knew, they were strong enough, but were these feelings the kind of feelings, you had for a lover? Or was it more a very strong friendship, like she had with Jules?

"I need to figure out what exactly I feel for you, Sofia. If my feelings for you are the same like for Jules, it won't work out and I'd like to spare us the problems and the disappointment."

"Fair enough." Sofia smiled a bit.

"But I have to say, I really like your lips. You're a good kisser, detective Curtis."

"Thanks. Whenever you feel like having another taste of my lips, tell me, I'll be more than happy to give you a new sample."

"I might want one now."

"My pleasure." Sofia pulled Sara in her arms. If she could help Sara to find out what she wanted by kissing her, she was more than happy to obey theses wishes.

* * *

Time for herself was short, time to think too. Sara had left work on time today, went home after a little stop at a bakery, getting some fresh bagels. With them and a coffee, she made herself comfortable on her balcony. The sun was up, it was almost eighty degrees, the day was suppose to be warm and perfect for some time out. What a pity she had to spend the day in bed to be awake the next night.

"Hey." So much for time for herself. Sofia was at the door frame, watching Sara.

"Hi, you finished on time."

"Yes. Want to be alone?"

"I wanted, yes, but stay."

"Sure?"

"Yes."

"I can leave you alone Sara. That's no problem. It's not like my place is far away and I've to drive half an hour to be home. It's less than half a minute."

Sara put her coffee away and petted on her lap as a sign for Sofia to sit down there.

Slowly the blonde came to Sara, sat down.

"I think we should use the moment to talk in private. I mean, I've no idea for how long we'll be alone here, it's possible at all times that somebody just comes on the balcony, my front door is a kind of revolving door sometimes…"

"Not today."

"How come?"

"I locked it after I came in, let the key in the lock. The keys won't work, we'll be alone."

"Sneaky detective."

"I've my ways to make sure we're alone, yes."

"I see that. Although we've no reason to hide."

"No, we don't. I'm sure they'll know very soon – or does Jules know already that something has changed?"

"I haven't told her anything, she didn't ask."

"Same here."

"If she knows, she'll wait until we'll do the first step. She is smart, unfortunately she knows me too well, so I've less hope I can keep a secret from her. And to be honest, I don't want to have a secret."

"Neither do I."

Sara got her arms around Sofia, held the hands of the blonde. "I owe you a decision."

"You don't owe me anything, Sara."

"We both know I do." Sara didn't want to keep this in a kind of nimbus for a long time. She didn't like being left in the nowhere, preferred to have a clear answer and get things straight.

"So, what is your decision? Please don't do anything you don't really want only to please me. I can handle it when you tell me, we'll be only friends. To be your friend is priceless, it's not like a consolations gift. It's really…"

Sara stopped Sofia by putting her index finger on the blonde's lips.

"I thought about everything, I thought about my feelings to you and what they mean. I do have feelings for you, Sofia, no need to deny that. You're very important to me, you're a part of my life, I don't want to lose you in any kind of way. We had a rough start, mostly because of me. It changed after we got to know each other better.

The problem isn't that, I've problems to say, we can try it. The problem is, I don't think it will be something, that will work out the way we want it to work out. We might be a happy couple for a few weeks, months, but I really don't see us as lovers for a long period. It is more friendship, deep friendship, I feel for you.

Last night was dangerous, we played with the fire and almost got burnt badly. I saw the line all the time, I knew exactly when we crossed the line and knew, I had to go back behind that line somehow. I'm glad it worked out at least a little bit. I'm sure, if we had sex last night, it would become a problem sooner or later and I don't want any problems or hard feelings between us.

So yes, I really appreciate your interest and I'm honored that you think, you can trust me enough, so that you won't leave me. I appreciate that you want to fight for me, that you want to try everything to make me yours, but I've to ask you, to back off. I don't want another last night, because I know, I won't be able to deny your wishes another time. And I would regret that as soon as I wake up the next morning. I never want to regret anything, that has something to do with you.

I hope you can understand and accept my decision."

Sofia said nothing. She had hoped Sara's decision would be something else. She had hoped, she and Sara could try it. She was so sure, this could be a relationship. She won't run, won't push her lover away. But she could see Sara's arguments, didn't agree with all of them, even if they made perfect sense.

"I'm sorry, Sofia."

"Don't be." Sofia looked into Sara's eyes and saw the sorrow. "Don't be sorry for being honest. That's what I wanted all the time, I wanted the people, I feel something for, be honest to me. If you want people to be honest, you have to accept, that they might tell you things, you don't like to hear. That doesn't mean, these things are wrong. You told me about your feelings, you told me about your decision, I know you thought about all this very good. You're not somebody, who makes a decision easily, not if your decision influences other people.

You think, it's not possible for us to have a long relationship. I'm glad you're honest enough to tell me before we start something, most people wouldn't. They'd try it and blame it on whatever after it doesn't work out. I'm disappointed, yes. It hurts to hear your answer, yes. I wanted to try it with you, yes. But I understand you and if I listen deep inside me, to the sensible part of me, that's buried deep down at the moment, I know you're right.

But it sucks."

Sara pulled Sofia closer in her arms. "I know, it sucks big time."

"You pushed away a stunning blonde."

"Stupid me."

"If you were stupid, it would be easier to accept. You are a smart woman and you're right, that makes it even harder." Sofia buried her face in Sara's hair. It felt so good to have the brunette around, to be with her. How comes that the sensitive things always sucked?

"I'm sure it's the right and best decision, but I'd feel better right now, if you had said, you want me in your bed; right here, right now." Sofia whined.

Sara chuckled. "I can say that, but you won't get what you had in mind when you came in my bed that night."

"I am still welcome in your bed?"

"Yes. If you need somebody to hold you, my bed is always available for you. So are my arms. I said, I don't want to have a love relationship with you, I never said, I don't want to have a close friendship with you. And we both know, I don't mind sharing a bed with a friend."

"Means, I've to keep my hands to myself."

"I'm not worried about your hands, they are no danger."

"You think?"

"I know."

"What makes you that sure, Sara?"

"Twenty years of material art." Sara grinned and kissed Sofia's cheek. She knew, her knowledge of fighting didn't help her when Sofia pressed the right buttons, she had been helpless the night when Sofia was in her bed, it wasn't her material arts knowledge, that got her out of that situation.

But there are no reason to worry about Sofia, the blonde accepted Sara's decision, Sara knew that.


End file.
